Invitation to talk with coalition: Houstonians Against Tar Sands (HAT)

[Maria Selva]

You are invited to our next mtg of HAT, Houstonians Against Tar Sands.
Sat.,  August 17,
4pm
East Side Social Center
4202 Canal 77003. 

Bring munchies if you so desire.  See info on new coalition group below.

Maria Selva



Houstonians Against Tar Sands (HAT) is a newly formed Greater Houston area coalition group.  HAT invites groups and community members who seek safer and cleaner air and environment to join us. 

Tar Sands refining will increase air pollution in Houston.  Tar Sands oil is coming across the US to be refined here in Houston.  It is a more toxic form of oil than we've had before.  It will spew more contaminants into the air in Houston as it is refined--only to be shipped out of the country for consumption overseas.  It is primarily meant for other countries' consumption, with only a small percentage for American use. 

The air pollution will stay here in Houston, as the oil goes overseas. HAT does not believe that the environmental degradation is worth the use of that Tar Sands oil, but previously the trade-off for environmental hazards offered to the American public was our use of oil.  Now we are not getting even that. 

On top of more air pollution, we get significantly increased likelihood of pipeline rupture in our communities.  Experience from a Tar Sands pipeline rupture in Mayflower, Arkansas,  shows us that pollutants from the spill get in the air and make the surrounding community sick.  The added chemicals put into the Tar Sands oil to make it flow down the pipe are considered proprietary information and the community is not informed as to what exposure/contamination they have had.

Tar Sands pipelines are much more prone to rupture than normal crude oil pipelines.  Tar Sands are a semi-solid containing abrasive sand. The oil is heated and diluted with chemicals which make the pipeline more likely to fail.  Existing pipelines are not meant to carry Tar Sands oil, yet they are being put to that use.  There will be a concentration of these pipelines in Houston and in the areas leading to Houston.

Houstonians Against Tar Sands provides a forum for groups and communities already working against tar sands transport, refining, and the environmental injustice it magnifies to promote their events, facilitate ally relationships, & provide interested individuals with avenues of  involvement.

Meetings are twice a month, the next meeting is 4pm Saturday, August 17th, at East Side Social Center 4202 Canal St Houston, TX 77003